Oh! My Empress

"Hmph! She has finally arrived," Audrey Lazarus was very unhappy with this whole affair. She had wanted to visit the wench to persuade her to withdraw from whatever this exam was but she could not even meet her. How dare a mere kid humiliate her by not giving her audience?

It would have saved her so much embarrassment if that kid had admitted her mistakes. But no! And that clueless husband of hers had decided to support this daughter of his? For what? Poor Cecilia had cried her eyes out for the whole week just because she was worried about her status in the high society. How could duke do this to her and their favorite daughter?

Kim Su Won stepped into this study room type big hall where not only the people to be involved in exam were present but every servant of the house was there to see the show.

Apparently, duke's household was quite boring and every character in this household was just living their lives as they were supposed to. Before her arrival in this household that is. Now everyday was exciting and full of gossips, was what Anna had told her.

Kim Su Won had shrugged over this piece of news, as long as people were getting entertainment.

As soon as she entered the hall, everyone started whispering to each other. Most of the servants and maids of the house had not seen Emmeline Whittemore after she woke up. They had no idea how drastically the girl had changed. But now they could see. Her fashion sense seemed to have improved a lot and there was just a calm and mature demeanor about her that surprised everyone.

Kim Su Won and Anna just looked around, flabbergasted. Both of them had no idea so many people would be 'gracing the occasion' of potential humiliation of Emmeline Whittemore. The girl and her maid did not forget to greet the people present though, including the audience. This was not something that was a norm and the servants and maids of the house felt acknowledged for some reason.

Kim Su Won was more awestruck of how grand the things were in Whittemore's castle. None of the descriptions written in the novel could compare to the actual thing. This could as well be one of the audience chambers in the king's castles as she had seen in the webtoons. How much money did this dad of hers had to afford such a spacious chamber embellished with things made of gold! She was almost blinded by the shine.

Other than that, she swept her eyes on the people present. Duke Whittemore, her father, was sitting in the middle on the big sofa which had been mounted on a pedestal and was accessible by three steps of stairs. He had donned a short cloak in navy blue buttoned up to the neck with a matching pair of pants. Ivan Whittemore, who was sitting on the left of the duke right below the stairs had a similar attire. It seemed like this was the fashion of this era for men of high ranking.

Earl Laurent and his son were also wearing matching jackets in olive green with same colored pants, closer to a military uniform. They were standing in one corner for the earl was going to 'host' the exam. It seemed to Kim Su Won that this was going to be more of an interview rather than an exam. She had made Anna carry writing tools which had been taken away by other servants.

Then, the duchess was sitting beside the duke. She was wearing a dark green colored gown and thankfully, did not have many jewels on her, at least nothing more than necessary. There were a few usual rings in her hand and a emerald green necklace with dangling earrings in shape of droplets. The beautiful lady had a black fan in her hand and a scowl adorned her face.

Sitting on the right of the duke and duchess, right in front of Evan was Cecilia Whittemore. She had decided to match herself with her mother and was wearing similar gown with similar accessories as her mother. She smirked as soon as she felt her younger sister's eyes on herself.

"My lady, please sit over there," Earl Laurent pointed to the seat beside Ivan Whittemore. It was actually a desk with two seats, one for her and one for Chris. Kim Su Won swallowed her saliva nervously. She had been a consultant in her past life, she could bullshit through some of the things. But what about Chris? Would this earl be lenient with the kid?

But she could not show her anxiety to the audience, could she? The people behind her, all the people, was still discussing fervently. Moreover, it seemed there were a few people in the crowd who did not look like they belonged to the duke household. But again, she had no idea who they were.

Anyway, she sat down at the desk after helping Chris to sit on his seat. Chris was slightly trembling due to all the attention towards himself and his sister. He was an unknown kid who was severely abused till now. He was too young to figure out if people were anticipating today's results or if they were cursing the two kids inside, praying for them to fail.

"Let's get started then," the earl announced.